August 24, 2022 02:02 PM UTC

Republicans Will Attempt to Recall Kevin Priola

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• by: Colorado Pols

There is no group of people who know how to make a bad situation worse like Colorado Republicans.

On Wednesday, Colorado Republicans announced that they had formally begun the process to recall State Sen. Kevin Priola from office for reasons that have nothing to do with policy and everything to do with partisanship.

On Monday, Priola announced that he was leaving the Republican Party and affiliating with Democrats after four terms in the State House and 6 years in the State Senate. Priola said he could no longer remain a part of the Republican Party because of the GOP’s embrace of the “Big Lie” and its persistent refusal to take any action to address the effects of Climate Change.

Colorado Republicans spent the rest of the day on Monday and on Tuesday ripping into Priola, continuing a long trend of crapping on him both in public and private. Consistent attacks from Republicans did little more than prove Priola’s point from his two-page letter announcing his switch to the Democratic Party. With their endless vitriol, Republicans demonstrated that Priola’s complaints about an unhinged and disconnected GOP was no longer a place where he felt comfortable residing.

Republican consultant Michael Fields, the registered agent on the recall paperwork, wants to turn this bad two-day story into weeks of terrible press for Republicans. This is the same Michael Fields who oversaw Americans for Prosperity in Colorado, the Koch-funded right-wing network that regularly praised Priola for assisting with many of their pet issues. Fields was so grateful, in fact, that he shanked Priola in the kidney when Priola wanted to run for Congress in the new CO-08:

Now that Priola is a Democrat, Fields is his enemy. This is similar to the approach taken by State Rep. Colin Larson, who told The Denver Post that Priola was no longer his friend now that he had switched political parties.

Fields disingenuously told the website “Complete Colorado” that the recall effort was underway because of several pieces of legislation supported by Priola, including SB21-260, HB19-1257, and SB18-040. We’re not going to bother explaining any of these bills because the policy concerns are irrelevant. Fields obviously didn’t care that much about Priola’s support for these bills — some of them years old at this point — as recently as last Friday. He’s only using these examples to justify a recall now because Priola is no longer a Republican.

Colorado Republicans have spent a ridiculous amount of time and money in recent years trying (and failing) to recall various Democratic politicians. Recalling Democrats was practically the State GOP platform in 2019. But trying to recall Priola NOW is even dumber than previous failed attempts to oust Democrats such as Gov. Jared Polis and State Rep. Tom Sullivan.

Mail ballots in Colorado will start going out in less than two months, which is about the same time that petitions to initiate a recall against Priola will be due to be filed with the Colorado Secretary of State’s office. Instead of spending the next 6-8 weeks trying to engage voters to support Republican candidates WHO ARE ALREADY ON THE NOVEMBER BALLOT, GOP leaders — including former militia leader and State Party Chair Kristi Burton Brown — will be distracted by spending money and collecting signatures to recall someone who isn’t even eligible to seek another term in the State Senate.

Republican donors are surely going to be thrilled that the GOP is veering off on this dumbass quest for revenge during the most crucial period of the 2022 campaign cycle. This is quite possibly the worst thing that Colorado Republicans could be doing right now.

If you’re Kevin Priola, every day makes you feel better about your decision to become a Democrat.